Birth of a monster?
No, Giorgos Karadzaferis doesn’t need to threaten anyone with legal action. He’s not Le Pen, Hitler or Mussolini. He’s just a «colorful» political figure – a «bubble» of abnormality in the municipal elections, provoked by Yiannis Tzannetakos’s candidature for the Athens-Piraeus «super-prefecture,» which will burst as soon as the contest is over. It isn’t Karadzaferis who poses a threat to politics and society; it is those who wanted to exploit him, to stage a far-right political game. Because, although a colorful figure might not have the power to realize and express a new trend, others may achieve this in subsequent attempts. There are no classic far-right or fascist organizations in Greece today, nor does today’s society resemble Europe’s inter-war period when these tendencies appeared. But national-socialist elements can be observed across all parties and in society. From Turk-hating clerics to gun-toting rebels of the far left. And they all have similar arguments, although their ideological starting points vary, with differences that a sharp cleric or political leader could easily harmonize. This monstrous mish-mash exists today in all parties. And, if checked by the majority, it should not pose a threat. What would be disastrous, however, would be if this hitherto shapeless form gains a body to carry it and a voice to express it. This would be the birth of a monster and the consequences would be nightmarish…
